- Molly Caudery had jumped higher than anyone in the world this year.
- However, he failed all three attempts at his initial height of 4.55 metres.
- Her teammate Holly Bradshaw failed to clear 4.40m and also missed out on the final.
Molly Caudery stood motionless with her head bowed in her hands. There were nearly 70,000 fans in the stadium, but she had never felt more alone at that moment.
After five long seconds, Caudery dropped onto the landing mat and closed his eyes, before rising again to applaud the crowd, almost apologetically. Tears began to flow as he walked away, still struggling to comprehend what had just happened.
The 24-year-old had arrived in Paris as one of Britain’s best hopes for an Olympic gold medal in athletics. However, she left the Stade de France stage on Monday having failed to even make the pole vault final, crashing out of qualifying after failing to clear a single bar.
“I’m in shock,” admitted Caudery, who again burst into tears as she recalled her sad morning. “It’s heartbreaking. I’m very disappointed and I’m so sorry to everyone who has been supporting me at home.”
Caudery broke the British record in June when she jumped 4.92 metres, the highest jump in the world this year. She felt confident about starting her Olympic campaign on Monday morning with 4.55 metres.
Molly Caudery’s Olympic gold dreams ended after she crashed in pole vault qualifying
The 24-year-old failed all three attempts from her starting height of 4.55 metres.
Caudery had to regret the decision to start 15 centimetres higher than the progress mark.
The world indoor champion, however, failed in all three of her attempts, nearly falling on the last one. To make matters worse, she later learned that a height of 4.40m would have been enough to get her through to Wednesday’s final.
“People may say I’ve jumped too high, but that’s not my opinion or that of my coach,” Caudery insisted. “4.55 is a bar that I jump over day after day. I had no doubt that I wouldn’t get over it. When I’ve jumped 4.80 or 4.90 all year, 4.55 shouldn’t be a problem.
‘When I made my third attempt, I couldn’t believe it. I have no excuses. I felt great. I’m in the best shape of my life. I love crowds. I didn’t feel too nervous.
“I don’t have an explanation right now for what just happened. It’s going to take me a little while to process it.”
Caudery was consoled by her fellow competitors before leaving the stadium. But moments earlier, she had been the shoulder to cry on for teammate Holly Bradshaw, who also retired after failing to clear the 4.40m.
“I’m gutted,” said Bradshaw, who won a bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 and will retire at the end of the season. “It’s been a really tough year and I wanted to go out there and make myself proud, and I really feel like I haven’t done that.”
“I just wanted to go out and make my dad proud. He passed away in November and I really hope I did that, even though it didn’t go well for me.
“My priority now is to be a mother, so I want to start a family with my husband.”